On a grey afternoon along the promenade at Hove, the brightly-coloured beach huts remain a mystery to Oscar Garcia.

Brighton’s coach is enjoying his first dip in English football, but he cannot understand why Brits go to the seaside to sit in a shed.

At least the most dangerous things falling from the sky in Sussex are calling cards of ornithology. In Garcia’s last job, ­Palestinian hard-liners Hamas were firing ballistic missiles at Israel.

A wet Tuesday night in Barnsley will hold few fears for Garcia’s continental sophistication after his experience of the sky at night in Tel Aviv.

Garcia arrived at the Amex after only 26 games as a manager – all at Maccabi, landing their first title for 10 years in a city where no air-raid siren is a practice drill.

He said: “The people were calm, but now I know what I have to do if the sirens start (he assumes the brace position).

“They have a missile shield system which intercepts the rockets, but one game was stopped because missiles were landing on the beach. And there was one club in Jerusalem who signed two Muslim players and some radicals set fire to the club offices.

“I was very proud that Maccabi won the title and I enjoyed it very much, but some things there are not normal for a coach.

“There is no pressure for me here at Brighton, there are no missiles in the sky.

“The only pressure is trying to win matches, and if you succeed the rewards are fantastic.”

Today, in the beach boys ‘derby’ at Bournemouth, Garcia’s side go for their fourth win in a row. After the play-off blow-out against Crystal Palace, Gus Poyet’s messy departure and a ­sluggish start, Brighton are on the march.

Given his upbringing in a Barcelona team including Pep Guardiola, Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman, under the tutelage of Johan Cruyff, it is no surprise the Seagulls are taking flight again.

“We were lucky to have Cruyff as our manager and we did not just learn about football from him. We learned a whole philosophy,” said Garcia, 40.

“Now we try to teach what Cruyff taught us. From nine years old, I learned to play only one way at ­Barcelona and that is to keep the ball.

“I’d seen a few Brighton games on TV, I knew some of the players and about the new stadium. I always wanted to come to England as a player and this was a good opportunity.

“The Championship is an amazing league, crazy, maybe the hardest in Europe. It is a good challenge for me.”